Shoe shining fixture



June 26, 1962 Filed Jan. 4, 1961 S. FRIEDMAN SHOE SHINING FIXTURE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

BY 4.1m

June 26, 1962 s. FRIEDMAN 3,040,360

SHOE SHINING FIXTURE Filed Jan. 4, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStatesPatent O 3,040,369 SHOE SHHNTNG FIXTURE 4 Samuel Friedman,Brooklyn, N.Y., assignor to Re-Ly-Qn The present invention relates to adevice for facilitating a shoe shining operation and, more specifically,one which will provide optimum support for a shoe while it is beingshined. It is specially adapted for home use, particularly because ofits collapsability and storage features, but is not limited thereto.

The shining of a shoe while it is in place on the foot of its wearerpresents problems, particularly revolving about supporting the shoe insuch an attitude that all portions of the shoe maybe properly polished,and doing so in such a way as to permit the foot of the wearer to bemaintained in a satisfactory, and preferably not un-'comfortable,"attitude.' Ordinarily, a shoe rest is mounted on a base ina fixed position which is a, compromise between comfort for the wearerand best presentation of the various parts of the shoe surface to thepolisher. The shoe shining fixture of the present invention, accordingto one aspect thereof, provides for an articulate mounting of the shoerest on the base, the rest being movable between angularly relatedpositions, those positions being compatible with comfort for the wearerof the shoe and at the same time permitting the shoe to be supported indifferent attitudes correlated with the different portions of the shoesurface which are to be polished.

One major problem, particularly insofar as home polishing activity isconcerned, is that it is awkward, difficult and often quite ineffectivefor a person to try to polish a shoe on his own foot. It is alsoextremely difiicult to hold a shoe with one hand and polish it with theother. Indeed, certain polishing operations, such as bufilng with thecloth, really require the use of two hands on the cloth if the task isto be done properly, thus making it impossible properly to perform thatoperation satisfactorily while holding the shoe in the hand.Furthermore, hand support is unsturdy and uneven, and will not providethe proper resistance to a brushing or buffing operation.

The device of the present invention not only can be used to support afoot-borne shoe, but also can be used to support, with proper firmness,a shoe off the foot. It may be adapted to mount shoes of difierent sizesand types. Moreover, it can present those shoes to the polisher invarious attitudes best designed to facilitate the polishing of all ofthe exposed surfaces thereof.

The device is readily transportable, may be collapsed to facilitate itsstorage in a minimal amount of space, and is preferably provided with ahollow base structure within which various items of shoe shiningequipment (brushes, polish, cloths and the like) may be stored. Theparts are all sturdy, simple, and easily manufactured and assembled.

To the accomplishment of the above, and to such other objects as mayhereinafter appear, the present invention relates to the construction of,a shoe shining device as defined in the appended claims and asdescribed in this spe- 3,4036% Patented June 26, 1962 ICC,

6:: 'FIG. 4 is a cross sectional 'view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG.3, the toe plate being shown in full lines for illustrative reason;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

' FIG. 6 is a fragmentary three-quarter perspective view showing analternative embodiment in which the foot rest is articulatedly mountedon the base for pivotal movement about an axis;

, FIG. 7 is a cross'sectional view taken along the line 7--7 of FIG. 6and showing, in solid and broken lines respectively, the two extremepositions of the shoe rest of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side elevationalviewshowing an alternativearticulate mounting for the foot rest on the base.

Turning now to the embodiments of FIGS. l-5, the shoe shine devicecomprises a base generally designated 2 comprising a bottom wall 4, sidewalls6 and. end walls 8 defining a hollow container, one end wall 8being shorter than the other, the upper edges of the side wall 6 beinginclined to correspond to the differences in heights of the two endwalls 8. The interior of the base 2 may be used for storage purposes, asindicated in broken lines in FIG. 4, and may be provided with apartition wall 10 or any other subdividing or supporting structure inorder to facilitate its storage function. The top of the base 2 isdefined by a wall 12 which is articulately connected to i wall 12 bymeans of posts 20. This rest 22 is inclined relative to the horizontalby reason of the inclination of the wall 12 and the height of the posts24 so that a person wearing a shoe may place that shoe upon the rest 22,the shoe there being supported while it is polished.

When a shoe is supported in a fixed position, as'when it is placed uponthe fixed shoe rest 22, certain portions of the shoe surface, dependingupon the particular position thereof, are effectively presented to theperson performing the polishing operation while other portions thereofare not as accessible to him. Accordingly, as indicated in FIGS. 6-8, itis desirable that the shoe rest 22a be articulately mounted on the wall1-2 so as to be movable between positions in which different portions ofthe shoe supported on the rest 22a may be presented to the personperforming the polishing operation with substantially equal degrees ofaccessibility. To that end, in the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 theshoerest 22a is mounted on the wall 12 by means of a leaf 24 having anupper flange 26 fixed to the rest 22a by means of screws 28 or the like,the lower end of the leaf 24 being rotatable about pin 30 fixed to thewall 1 2 by means of brackets 32 and screws or the like 34. The axis ofthe pin 30 is parallel to the width of the wall 12, so that the shoerest 22a is movable between a relatively upwardly and forwardly inclinedposition in which its heel part rests upon the wall 12 and a relativelydownwardly and forwardly inclined position in which its toe part restsupon the wall 12, these positions being shown in solid and broken linesrespectively in FIG. 7. In the former position the toe of the shoesupported on the rest 22a is best presented, while in the latter ,theheel of the shoe is best presented.

In FIG. 8 an alternative articulate mounting for the shoe rest 22a isdisclosed. There one leaf 25 of a hinge generally designated 27 issecured to the underside of the spans-so rivets 41, tothe base 12. Withthis type of mounting the foot rest 22a is not only movable between theforwardly and rearwardly inclined positions characteristic of theembodiment of FIGS. 1-6 by pivoting of the hinge leaf 25 about the hingepin 31, thereby exposing the heel and toe surfaces of the shoerespectively, but isalso pivotal laterally about the pivot so that oneside or the other of the shoe rest 22a engages the wall 12, therebypresenting one side or the other of the shoe for polishing.

Because of the fact that, insofar as shoe shining in the home isconcerned, there are relatively few instances when a person is availableto shine shoes on the feet of an other, and because it is very difllcultfor a person to per: form anything but a superficial shining operationon shoes on his own feet, there is a great need for a device which willreliably support empty shoes in an attitude and with a firmness whichwill permit those shoes to be polished. To accomplish this mostdesirable result the device of the present invention is provided with anarm generally designated 36 which is movable between the loweredposition shown in FIG. 2 and the raised position shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and4. This arm is substantially U-shaped, and comprises a pair of lengths38 connected by a substantially horizontally extending portion 49. Thelower ends of each of the lengths 38 extend over plates 42, which aremounted in any appropriate manner on the exterior of the side walls 6.Screws 44 extend out from the plates 42 and pass through verticallyelongated slots 46 formed in the lower ends of the lengths 38. The tipsof the lengths 38 are provided with notches 48 into which lugs 56 struckout from the body of the plates 42 are adapted to be received.

Mounted on the horizontally extending portion at in any appropriatemanner, as by welding, is a sleeve 52. An externally accessible thumbscrew 54 is adapted to penetratethe sleeve 52. via'aperture 56. Thesleeve 52 is adapted to receive a shoe holder generally designated 58.This holder 58 comprises a rearwardly extending part 69 adapted to betelescopably received within the sleeve 52 and to be there engaged andheld in position by means of the thumb screw 54. It is preferred, forreasons which will become'apparent hereinafter, that both the sleeve 52and the part so be of circular cross section. Fixedly mounted on thepart 60 is a depending heel-engaging plate 62 and a flattened sleve 64provided with a thumb screw 56. An 'arm generally designated 68 isslidably receivable in the sleeve s4, and comprises a part 763 actuallyslidable through the sleeve 64, a part 72 bent down therefrom, and apart 74 extending substantially forwardly from the part 72. A toe plate76 is adapted to be re removably secured to the part '74 by means ofscrew 7S and nut 80. Different size toe plates 76 may be provided, inorder to cooperate with shoes of different widths. The shoeholder 58 isadapted to cooperate with shoes of different lengths by adjustablypositioning the arm 68 relative to the heel-engaging plate 62, asindicated by the solid and broken lines in FIG. 3.

When the device is to be stored, or when it is to be used for theshining of shoes on the foot of a person, it will be placed in theposition shown in FIG. 2, in which the arm 36 is pivoted downwardlyabout the screws 44 to a position which does not interfere with accessto the shoe rest 22. The shoeholder 58 will have been removed from thesleeve 52, and may be stored within the base 2. A spring clamp 78 may beprovided on the underside of the wall 12 to retain the polishing cloths.

When the device is to be used for the shining of a shoe which is not onthe foot of a person, the arm 38 is swung about the screws 44 to itsraised position shown in FIG.

3, in which position it is fixed by pushing the arm'down- Wardly in thedirection of its length until the notches 48 at the lower ends of thelengths 38 engage around the lugs 56', this downward movement of the arm36 being permitted by means of the elongated nature of the slots 46through which the screws 44 pass. The shoe holder is not inserted intothe shoe, but rather, the shoe holder 58 is first inserted into sleeve56, and the shoe is mounted on shoe holder 58, and removed afterpolishing. Shoe holder 58 is removed when shoes are completed or whenhand polishing or touching up is required.

Because of the circular cross section of the part 60 and the sleeve as,the entire holder 5?, together with the shoe mounted thereon, may bepivoted about the axis of the part 60, as indicated by the broken linesin FIG. 4, thereby to present first one side of the shoe and then theother to the polisher. Whilethe polishing operation is going on the arm36 is securely locked in position by reason of the engagement betweenthe lug 5i) and the notch 48. For touching up, the shoe holder 58, witha shoe thereon, may be removed from the sleeve 52 and held in the hand.i

In order to facilitate adjusting the relative positions of the heelengaging part 62 and the toe piece 76, the arm 68 may be provided withan upwardly extending finger piece.

When the arm 36 is in its raised position its horizontally extendingpart 4% constitutes a handle which permits the device to be readilytransported from place to place, and this whether or not not the shoeholder 58 is in position.

Thus the structure involved is simple, sturdy and reli able. it not onlyprovides for the support of shoes, whether on or off the foot, inposition for polishing but also, in the preferred embodiments heredisclosed, provides for adjustment of the position of the support of theshoe in order to facilitate access to all portions of the outer surfaceof the shoe. The construction is such that when a shoe on the foot is tobe polished those parts of the device designed for use with shoes offthe foot are moved to non-interfering positions. The device may be usedeffectivelywith shoes of many different sizes and types.

While but a limited number of embodiments of the present invention havebeen here specifically disclosed, it will be apparent that manyvariations may be made in the details thereof, all within the spirit ofthe invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A shoe shining device comprising a hollow base, an arm articulatelymounted on said base for movement between raised and lowered positions,in both of which positions said arm is outside said base, means forretaining said arm in its raised position, a shoe holder, means formounting said shoe holderon a portion of said arm remote from said basewhen said arm is in its raised position, and means providing access tothe interior of said base, whereby said shoe holder may be storedtherein when not in use while said arm remains outside said base.

2. The device of claim 1, in which said shoe holder comprises a shoetree with a part extending therefrom, and in which said mounting meanscomprises an element with respect to which said part is detachablyslidably received and is rotatable.

3. The device of claim 1, in which said arm, when in its raisedposition, comprises a substantially horizontally extending portionadapted to function as a carrying handle for said fixture.

4-. The device of claim 3,.in which said shoe holder mounting means iscarried by said horizontally extending portion of said arm.

5. The device of claim 1, in which said arm comprises a pair ofsubstantially parallel arm portions each articulately mounted at one endon said base, said arm portions extending exteriorly of opposite sidesof said base respectively, the other ends of said arm portionsbeingconnected by a laterally extending portion.

6. The device of claim 5, in which said shoe holder mounting means iscarried by said laterally extending portion. 7

7. The device of claim 1, in which said arm is rotatable andlongitudinally slidably mounted on said base, said base and armrespectively having means engageable through relative slidable movementWhen said arm is in its raised position and effective when engaged toprevent rotation of said arm relative to said base.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSFOREIGN PATENTS France Mar. 12, 1952

